| Abstract: | Estimates of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection prevalence varies among
different studies depending on the prevalence of HBV infection in the study
population and on the sensitivity of the assay used to detect HBV DNA. We
investigated the prevalence of occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing
liver transplantation in a Brazilian referral center. Frozen liver samples from 68
adults were analyzed using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay for HBV DNA. The
specificity of the amplified HBV sequences was confirmed by direct sequencing of the
amplicons. The patient population comprised 49 (72.1%) males and 19 (27.9%) females
with a median age of 53 years (range=18-67 years). Occult HBV infection was diagnosed
in three (4.4%) patients. The etiologies of the underlying chronic liver disease in
these cases were alcohol abuse, HBV infection, and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Two of the
patients with cryptic HBV infection also presented hepatocellular carcinoma. Markers
of previous HBV infection were available in two patients with occult HBV infection
and were negative in both. In conclusion, using a sensitive nested polymerase chain
reaction assay to detect HBV DNA in frozen liver tissue, we found a low prevalence of
occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver transplant, probably due
to the low prevalence of HBV infection in our population. |
